Aman has finally broken its silence over the bizarre incident involving luxury hotel reviewer Ryan Walker at the newly-opened Amanvari in Mexico, accusing Walker of publishing a “deceptively edited” video and offering several new details that complicate the original story. I’m not surprised, but I’m also not about to

Aman Breaks Silence Over Ryan Walker Amanvari Controversy

Earlier this month, I wrote about the extraordinary experience of YouTuber Ryan Walker, who traveled to the brand-new Amanvari resort in Baja California Sur for a confirmed one-night stay costing more than $4,600, only to be turned away at the gate.

Walker subsequently published a video titled “Amanvari Called the Police on Me,” detailing an encounter in which resort personnel refused him access and one employee said she needed to call the police.

The video went viral and Amanvari was widely excoriated. But Aman has now responded, and claims there is more to the story.

Aman Calls Walker’s Video “Deceptively Edited”

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, an Aman spokesperson did not mince words:

“The deceptively edited video created by someone unauthorized to be on our property does not reflect the circumstances of the incident accurately.”

That’s quite an accusation. And Aman offered several specific points to support its version of events.

First, Aman says police were never actually called.

In Walker’s video, an Amanvari employee can clearly be heard saying, “I need to call the police now.” Walker then sees her on the telephone and concludes that she is doing exactly that.

But Walker left before any police appeared, and Aman says its incident report contains no indication that law enforcement was ever contacted.

When the WSJ presented that claim to Walker, he acknowledged that he never actually saw police arrive and said he hoped Aman was telling the truth.

I’m not so sure this absolves the hotel, though I’d be very happy if it did not call the police. Walker was plainly threatened with the police, at least based on the words captured in his own video. But saying Amanvari “called the police” is stronger than the evidence presently supports.

Second, Aman says Walker did not arrive at the resort’s normal guest entrance.

According to Aman, Walker and his driver instead reached staff access points. Audio in Walker’s own footage apparently captures someone saying in Spanish, “Este es el acceso de colaboradores,” or “This is the employee entrance.”

Walker says his driver simply followed GPS directions and that he did not hear the remark at the time.

That certainly helps explain why the arrival experience looked so strange, though it does not explain everything that followed.

Walker Was Warned About A Media Blackout Before His Stay

The most significant new detail concerns correspondence between Walker and Amanvari before his arrival.

According to emails reviewed by the Journal, Amanvari contacted Walker five days before his stay and told him that it could not accommodate stays involving content coverage during a month-long media blackout surrounding the resort’s opening.

The hotel suggested that he postpone his visit. Walker responded that he should simply be treated as a regular paying guest.

Amanvari then replied that it was prepared to welcome him, but explained that he could not film public areas and would need approval to film private spaces (like really, even in his guest room?). The hotel further added that content could not be published until after the media exclusivity period.

On the one hand, Walker knew perfectly well that Amanvari did not want media coverage during its opening period and that filming restrictions applied. On the other hand, the hotel’s response certainly appears to confirm that his reservation remained intact.

If Amanvari wanted to cancel his stay because it ultimately concluded that his presence as a content creator was incompatible with its media blackout, it should have done so clearly and well in advance. Instead, the reservation was canceled shortly before arrival.

Aman says it notified Walker both by email and WhatsApp. Walker initially stated in his video that the cancellation email arrived late the night before, but later acknowledged to the Journal that it had actually arrived the previous morning. He says he simply did not see it…that’s a little troubling and highly convenient in the sense that I have a feeling Walker did see it because this was the first review in which he filmed his journey and arrival at the property.

He also says he did not see the WhatsApp message until the Journal subsequently brought it to his attention.

If the email was sitting in his inbox for most of the day before his scheduled stay, it is harder to characterize the cancellation itself as something “sprung on him” at the gate, even though I still find it problematic: canceling a confirmed $4,600 hotel reservation one day before arrival is hardly impressive hospitality, particularly when the guest has already traveled to Mexico for the stay.

My View Has Changed A Little, But Not Much

I think Aman has raised some fair points.

The title of Walker’s video appears too categorical if police were never actually called. He should also correct his original timeline concerning when the cancellation email arrived.

And the pre-arrival correspondence makes clear that this was not simply an unsuspecting guest who happened to show up with a camera. Amanvari knew exactly who Walker was, and Walker knew exactly how the resort felt about filming during its opening period.

I wish Walker had been more transparent. But I still struggle to see how any of that excuses the way the situation was handled.

Amanvari accepted his reservation and subsequently told him it was prepared to welcome him subject to filming restrictions.

Then it canceled his stay with roughly a day’s notice because, apparently, it was so afraid that his videos and photos would make the resort look back.

When he nevertheless appeared at the property, the interaction devolved to the point that an employee threatened to call the police rather than having a senior manager calmly come out and explain what had happened.

This is Aman, after all. We’re talking about a resort charging nearly $5,000 per night and a brand built almost entirely around extraordinary service, discretion, and anticipation of guest needs. Whatever Walker got wrong in his video, Amanvari still handled this poorly.

And accusing him of “deceptively editing” the video is a serious charge that deserves more support than simply pointing out that some context was missing. Editing a long encounter into an 11-minute YouTube video is inevitable. The relevant question is whether Walker deliberately removed material that materially changed what occurred.

Based on what we know now, I am not convinced of that.

I am convinced that his headline went too far concerning the police and that his chronology concerning the cancellation email needed correction. Those are fair criticisms. But they don’t transform Amanvari into the victim here.

CONCLUSION

Aman’s response adds important context to the Ryan Walker controversy at Amanvari.

Walker knew about the resort’s media blackout, arrived through what Aman says were staff entrances, misstated when he received his cancellation email, and cannot establish that police were actually called.

Those facts matter.

But so does this: Amanvari canceled a confirmed $4,600 stay at the last minute after previously telling Walker it was prepared to welcome him, then allowed the situation at the gate to descend into an embarrassing confrontation.

There are now legitimate criticisms to make of both sides. Yet for a hotel charging nearly $5,000 per night, I still expect far better from Aman and find the concept of a “media blackout” itself to be rather silly (and we’ve seen a handful of reports from others).

image: Amanvari

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